When on a job site, a carpenter frequently needs to take measurements with a tape measure, but his hands are not free to write down what the measurement is, or there is no pencil, the lead is broken, or there is nothing to jot the figure down on. Preoccupied with other thoughts, the exact measurement is often forgotten by the time the carpenter has climbed down off the ladder, etc. and returned to the area where boards are cut.
Accordingly, what is needed is a self-contained distance recording device which is an integral part of the measuring tape and which requires no separate recording instruments, such as a pencil, to assure accuracy of the measured information which must be recorded contemporaneously with the making of the measurements because otherwise errors will occur and inaccuracy will be the result.